Jacques Laperrière

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Jacques Laperrière
Hockey Hall of Fame, 1987
Born (1941-11-22) November 22, 1941
Rouyn-Noranda, QC, CAN
Height 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Weight 190 lb (86 kg; 13 st 8 lb)
Position Defence
Shot Left
Played for Montreal Canadiens
Playing career 19621974

Joseph Jacques Hughes Laperrière (born November 22, 1941) is a Canadian professional ice hockey coach and former player. Laperrière played for the Montreal Canadiens in the National Hockey League (NHL) from 1962 until 1974. As a player, he was a member of six Stanley Cup champion squads. As a coach, he was a member of two Stanley Cup-winning staffs.

Playing career

Born in Rouyn-Noranda, Quebec, Laperriere grew up idolizing the Montreal Canadiens. Defenseman Doug Harvey was Laperriere's favorite player as they both played defense.[1] Laperrière spent his junior career with the Hull-Ottawa Canadiens, the Montreal Junior Canadiens and the Brockville Jr. Canadiens[2] before making the jump to the National Hockey League in 1962–63 with the Montreal Canadiens. Laperriere played six games in the regular season and five more in the playoffs against the Toronto Maple Leafs in his first year in the NHL.

The next season saw Laperriere earn a full-time spot on the roster. His rookie season saw him play in 65 games while recording 30 points and 102 PIM. Laperrière also made few defensive errors.[3] At season's end, the NHL awarded Laperrière the Calder Memorial Trophy for top rookie in the NHL, beating out teammate John Ferguson. Adding to that, Laperriere was selected to play in the 1964 NHL All-Star Game and he was also named to the NHL Second All-Star Team as a defenceman. This was the first time a rookie had earned a spot on the NHL All-Star Team since World War II.

In 1964–65 season, Laperrière had another stellar season as he was named to the NHL First All-Star Team in only his second season in the NHL. He also won the Stanley Cup as the Canadiens defeated the Chicago Black Hawks in seven games.[4] The following season was plagued of injuries for Laperrière. He only played 57 games but he was still awarded the James Norris Memorial Trophy for best defenceman in the league, and he was also selected to the NHL First All-Star Team for the second year in a row. The Canadiens would also win the Stanley Cup that year, defeating the Detroit Red Wings. Laperrière did not participate in the postseason due to injuries.[5]

Laperrière would play eight more seasons with the Canadiens, winning four more Stanley Cups. In 1972–73, Laperrière led the league in Plus-minus[6] being the only player other than Bobby Orr to lead the league in that statistic between 1969 and 1975. He would retire halfway through the 1974–75 season due to a career ending knee injury.

He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1987.

Coaching career

After retiring, Laperrière became the coach of the Montreal Juniors in 1975–76. He would resign the following year due to his distaste of the pressure and violence at the amateur level.[7] In 1980–81, Laperrière rejoined the Canadiens organization as an assistant coach to Claude Ruel. He would stay as the Canadiens assistant coach for 16 years, serving under six different head coaches, and winning two Stanley Cups in 1985–86 and in 1992–93. In 1997–98, Laperrière joined the Boston Bruins staff, serving under Pat Burns as an assistant coach again. He spent four seasons in Boston before joining the New York Islanders in 2001–02 resuming his previous position of assistant coach with the Bruins. After two seasons with the Islanders, Laperrière became a part of the New Jersey Devils organization in 2003–04.[8] Once again, Laperriere served as an assistant coach until 2006–07 when he was named a special assignment coach for the Devils.

Awards and achievements

Career statistics

    Regular season   Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
1958–59Hull-Ottawa CanadiensEPHL1112220000
1958–59Hull-Ottawa CanadiensM-Cup910116
1959–60Hull-Ottawa CanadiensEPHL50220
1959–60Brockville Jr. CanadiensM-Cup130131334
1960–61Hull-Ottawa CanadiensEPHL50002
1960-61Hull CanadiensA-Cup30004
1960–61Hull-Ottawa CanadiensEPHL30224
1961–62Montreal Jr. CanadiensOHA-Jr.482037470
1961–62Hull-Ottawa CanadiensEPHL1000471456
1962–63Hull-Ottawa CanadiensEPHL40819275120000
1962–63Montreal CanadiensNHL6022250114
1963–64Montreal CanadiensNHL652283010271128
1964–65Montreal CanadiensNHL675222792611216
1965–66Montreal CanadiensNHL576253185
1966–67Montreal CanadiensNHL61020204890119
1967–68Montreal CanadiensNHL7242125841313420
1968–69Montreal CanadiensNHL6952631451413428
1969–70Montreal CanadiensNHL736313798
1970–71Montreal CanadiensNHL49016162020491312
1971–72Montreal CanadiensNHL73325285040002
1972–73Montreal CanadiensNHL577162334101342
1973–74Montreal CanadiensNHL422101214
NHL totals 691 40 242 282 674 88 9 22 31 101

References

External links

Preceded by
Pierre Pilote
Winner of the Norris Trophy
1966
Succeeded by
Harry Howell
Preceded by
Kent Douglas
Winner of the Calder Trophy
1964
Succeeded by
Roger Crozier
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